A white University of Kansas professor is on paid leave on her own request after five students filed a complaint asking for her to be fired over the use of the n-word.
Andrea Quenette, an assistant professor of communication studies, used the word during a discussion about the recent protest movement of black students at colleges across the country, including the University of Kansas.
“As a white woman I just never have seen the racism. … It’s not like I see [expletive]' spray painted on walls,” she said, according to the open letter calling for her dismissal.
Teacher’s Side
Quenette confirmed to Inside Higher Ed that she did use the slur, but “did so in comparing the University of Kansas to the University of Missouri, where many students reported seeing and hearing the word -- and citing that as an example of the discrimination they face.”
“Quenette stressed that she never directed the word at anyone and used it as an example of a slur, not to hurt anyone,” the blog said.
“I didn’t intend to offend anyone, I didn’t intend to hurt anyone. I didn’t direct my words at any individual or group of people,” the 33-year-old added to the Journal-World.
“It was an open conversation about a serious issue that is affecting our campus, and it will affect our teachers. In that regard, I consider it within my purview ... to talk about those issues.”
But the 10 graduate students, nine of which are white, saw the matter differently.
Students Upset
“It was outright racism,” said Amy Schumacher, a first-year Ph.D. student who was in the class, who is white. “I don’t think that it was an open dialogue — she wasn’t receptive to hearing any other ideas.”
Schumacher claimed that Quenette left the black student feeling “devastated” and also has a previous history being unsympathetic to students.
None of the students voiced their concerns during class, Quenette said. Schumacher said the students “had no words” and most “just shut down.”
